


Arduous

by lululandd



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 06:21:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12426798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululandd/pseuds/lululandd
Summary: Daud finds solace in a stranger, and together they're tasked to commit deicide by the deity himself.





	1. Ava

**Author's Note:**

> yo i uploaded the same thing from ff.net so pls dont accuse me of copying and then blocking me thank. oh and i stole lines from the actual game cos daud is poetic af and im not at all

Ava clambered out the attic window onto the roof to watch the sunset. She has been obsessed with them for a few weeks now, after witnessing first hand that her roof was the perfect place to watch the sunset. She has tried her neighbours' roof, with Dunwall being a densely packed city, not a difficult feat. She was being very careful not to make any noise, afraid she would get in trouble for trespassing. But her neighbours' roof didn't have the same feel as her own roof, so she abandoned the idea of trying new roofs to gaze from.

She was distracted by the sound of roof shingles being stepped on and turned around. There was a red leather jacketed man with a glowing glove on her rooftop. The Knife of Dunwall. The man looked at her, and the glow of the glove dissipated. From the intensity of his gaze she was sure this would be the last minutes of her life, and turned back to see the sunset for the last time. She was expecting a knife on her throat, a knife on her heart, or a bullet at the back of her head, but none of them came. Once the sun had set, she went back into the house as if nothing had happened. 

But her heart pounded like mad and she made tea to calm her nerves. Thank the Outsider her hands wasn’t shaking. There’s a five thousand coins reward for his head, for murdering the empress and ‘other individuals of note’ according to the posters. That night she was deprived of sleep by a gust of cold air, blowing through her opened window. It was closed and latched when she went to bed earlier. She groaned as she ambled out of bed to close the window.

"Leave it." A hoarse voice spoke from behind her. 

She was stunned in place, her hand awkwardly stuck in mid-air. Her heart pounded as hard as those stomping tall-boys that walked the street, and as fast as the flutters of a butterfly's wings. She didn't know who it is, it could be Daud--the Knife of Dunwall again, or some other street thug, it could be the mysterious masked felon, but she know she only has one way out. 

She leapt out the window but somehow landed back into her room. 

"Witchcraft!" She yelled. She turned around to see who it was, and her first guess was correct. The Knife of Dunwall stood in front of her. They stared at each other in silence. She noted his scarred face, slicked back hair, deeply lined forehead, and his tired eyes. 

"Why didn't you run or yell when you see me? Why aren't you running and yelling now? Why haven’t you traded my head for coins?" He inquired as he stepped forwards threateningly.

She motioned him to the balcony. "Let's talk outside." 

He didn't heed and lets her walk outside alone. He only followed when she sat on the stone balcony, looking in. 

"I'm not afraid of death. I was sure you were going to kill me earlier on the rooftop, and I wanted to look at the sunset one last time." She explained. She crossed her arms, regretting her own wishes to be outside. It was a cold night. 

The Knife of Dunwall sat beside her, facing the city. "I'm tired of killing."

Ava was so taken aback by his words that she lost her balance for a while, almost dropping down to the city below. She leaned forwards to avoid falling. 

"I beg your pardon?" She turned her head to meet the unscarred side of his face. He was looking up at the moon. "Why are you telling me this?" She blurted out. He was a complete stranger, a famous and dangerous stranger, but a stranger nonetheless. 

"A truth for a truth." He looked down at his own hands. They were silent for a while, listening to the city below them. 

“Wish you were tired of killing before you killed the empress.” She muttered, offering another truth to be replied to. She saw him glance vehemently, and her short life flashed before her eyes.

But then his expression changed as if he was overcome with grief, and retorted, “I do too. Her hands were all that was holding Dunwall together. With her dead, the city was a fast disintegrating web of guardsmen, Overseers, nobles, weepers…Maybe this was the world the Outsider was trying to show me all along.” He took a deep sigh and took out a cigarette and lighter from his inner jacket pocket.

That was a very personal thought. She thought, is he going to jump after he took his last drag of his cigarette? Very likely. He’s acting very weird, not that she knew how he behaves normally, just…something is definitely off. One--especially not a famous assassin-- does not merely spill their guts out to random strangers unless they’re planning something. A suicide, or something, maybe.

"So….. you look like you hadn't slept in a proper bed in a long time, you can take my bed. I can sleep in the guest bedroom." She offered. 

The Knife of Dunwall's head turned to her direction so fast she heard his neck crack. His expression was priceless, which was confusion with a hint of disbelief. 

"You're mad." He looked back at the moon, and after throwing out what seemed like the longest lasting cigarette, "But I'll take that offer." 

"No stealing." She warned as she walked back inside.

"Hey." He called after her when she was halfway out of the room, "We haven't prop--" 

She cuts him off, "If you're still here tomorrow morning, we can properly introduce ourselves. Goodnight." 

\---

Ava's head thudded and her eyelids felt hot and heavy as she woke up that morning. She peered out the window to see the sun's just about out, and thought she would crept to her bedroom to see if Daud was still there, but she dismissed the idea. She walked downstairs to make tea instead. She heard cluttering, and hinges creaking in the kitchen. Sure enough The Knife of Dunwall was there, opening and closing cupboards, clearly looking for something. 

"Where do you keep your tea?" He asked without looking at her. 

"I don't keep them in the kitchen. They're in the pantry, one door down." She giggled. "Good morning, Knife of Dunwall. I'm Ava." She burst out laughing after seeing his face. 

She made tea for both of them and threw him a jar of biscuits. She didn't know what made her do it, it was so unlike her, but she felt right somehow, throwing him the jar of biscuits. 

"Daud." He gave her his hand when they're both seated. She took it with amusement and fascination, they are very rough and calloused, with bumps of healed scars here and there. She liked that he didn't squeeze the life out of her hand, just firm enough to assert dominance. He smiled when she grasped it just as firm. 

"Why did you stay, Daud?" She asked with a smirk. 

"Wanted to know how it feels to be normal for at least one night.”

She nodded, “How’s the bed?” 

“All right.”

She nodded again as she stood up, “Bread and sausage?”

Daud shook his head, “I’d best be leaving. Thankyou for your hospitality.”

She nodded for the last time. It wasn’t until a few months later that she would nod to that scarred face again.


	2. Outsider's Order

A few weeks went by with all manners of truth unravelling by the help of the Masked Felon, who is clearly the Royal Protector Corvo Attano trying to clear his name. He branded the High Overseer, taken Anton Sokolov hostage, somehow made the Royal Spymaster confess out loud on louspeakers, and her personal favourite, crashing the Boyle's party dressed as himself. 

She hasn't seen the Royal Protector, being cooped up in Draper's Ward with Dunwall's dressmaker, watching and hearing the Eels and the Hatters fight from time to time. She wants to see Lizzy Stride prowl the streets again. Rumours said she's in Coldridge for good, but she doesn't believe it one bit. A woman as tough and with as many connections as Lizzy will escape one day, and she will get her revenge on Edgar Wakefield. She moved from a shabby apartment to an even shabbier one, wanting to work as the dressmaker's apprentice, making outfits for the Boyle sisters for the Boyle party. Some witch called Delilah visited him, taking his creepy possessions of Lady Emily's clothes and her lock of hair, leaving witch signs and a large round bone thing that emanates a weird noise on the wall. He told her not to touch or get near it, but the sound it made annoyed her to no end. She could hear it faintly buzzing from her apartment two buildings away. Chucking it away into the sea would be best, but the old man wouldn't hear any of it. 

It was gone a few days later. She woke up feeling odd, as if she forgot something. She realised what she'd forgotten when she was halfway to the old man's place. The buzzing noise wasn't there anymore. She ran the rest of the way, and smiled widely as she saw the empty wall. The witch's etching was still there, but the round bone thing is gone. 

"Daud, the Knife of Dunwall came here asking questions about Delilah and Emily, then took the thing away." He explained, when he saw her looking at the now empty wall. 

Daud. He had heard nothing about him as of late, as if confirming what he said on her balcony was true. She was pinning fabric to a mannequin when she felt something wrong with her surroundings. The colours around her were fading slowly, and she felt a cold gust of wind. In the month of Seeds that was was very impossible and she ran out the back door, with the intention of jumping down to the streets from his window. She was one step away from the window when she felt her body slowed in rhythm with the fading colours around her and came to a full stop in mid-air.

"What is it with you and jumping out of windows, Ava?" She heard a voice behind her. His voice resonated all around her, as if he was talking in her head. Which she thought was true. She heard footsteps slowly coming, and she saw the Outsider's face for the very first time.

It was nothing like she thought he would look like. She thought him to be older, taller, darker, and a good deal wiser looking. What stood in her field of vision was that of a very tired, very curious looking man of her age with very deep sunken eyes the colour of night. Multiple answers ran through her mind, ranging from the truth, absolute lies, to snarky replies. 

Used to hearing no replies from his audience it seemed, the Outsider continued, "I've been watching ever since you let Daud--The Knife of Dunwall--stay at your place. Your actions, as irrational as they were, changed something within Daud. I'm curious as to what will happen next."

She felt a burning pain on the back of her left hand, and she instinctively hold them to her chest, yelling in pain. She saw a glowing mark, and remembered Daud's glowing left hand. This was probably how Corvo Attano accomplished all those feats in such a short time. 

There were too many thoughts running in her brain, all too fast to catch, so she offered her left hand and shook her head. The Outsider watched her coldly. "May I refuse?" She finally found a polite, composed sentence. "I don't want to get involved in anything dangerou--"

The Outsider cuts her off with a wide smirk that made him look evil, "You were already involved when you didn't yell for help at the sight of him."

She felt her body relaxing, and she could move again. She leaned on the wall near the window, examining her branded hand. She touched the mark with her fingers, thinking it would feel bumpy or something, but her skin was as smooth as before. Thoughts of regret and self blame ran through her mind. 

"What price do I have to pay?" She inquired after she was done examining her hand. Wearing gloves would be one of them, she thought. 

"That's up to you and Daud."

She made a face at the Outsider. "What?" she spat. "Do explain, because I don't understand what you meant by that."

"Daud will approach you in the near future, and the price you have to pay depends on the choices you and Daud made." The Outsider explained as he paced slowly around the room. 

She shook her head and held her hand up, "Wait, no. Like what price do I have to pay for the mark?" She turned her hand around so the Mark faced the Outsider, "Do I have to drink padilla pear soda forever and always, or does it come with a death of a friend, will it shorten my lifespan everytime I use my powers? That was my question."

He disappeared from his place and appeared deadly close to her face. She leaned backwards, turned her head and closed her eyes, afraid the Outsider would do something to her face. She held her breath, and apparently so was he, because she didn't feel any on her face. What she felt was a brief coldness on her cheek, and when she opened her eyes everything was back to normal. The colours around her were back, and the Outsider was gone. She ran to the nearest mirror and looked at her cheek where the Outsider touched earlier. There were no marks, no scars, nothing. Her brows furrowed, as she prodded her face trying to feel something, but she found nothing so she breathed a sigh of relief and continued pinning fabric to the mannequin. She was glad the Outsider didn't do something to her face.

The dressmaker's physical and mental health deteriorated after losing Emily's lock of hair and belongings, and he taught her everything he knew. She moved them back to her older but less shabby apartment. She helped made a few people's clothes, and she thought she did pretty well. She wore gloves day and night, never taking them off, not even in her sleep.

"What's with the glove?" Daud's hoarse voice woke her up one night. She was scared out of her mind, and was halfway to the window when colours started to fade again. She turned around, expecting the Outsider to be there but there was only Daud, looking bewildered. 

Colours came back to their surroundings and Daud stared wild eyed at her, "Why weren't you affected by my powers?" 

She looked back at him, probably with the same wild bewildered expression, "The same reason why I'm wearing gloves." She took them off and showed Daud her mark, a smaller copy of his larger one.

His expression deepened, and she feared him, then. She took a step backwards. Daud seemed to realise what he had done, and softened his expression, "Apologies." He paused, "When did you get that?" 

She took a moment to compose herself, "Back in Draper's Ward, a few weeks ago." 

He eyed her suspiciously, "I was in Draper's Ward." 

She nodded, "I know. The dressmaker told me. I'm his apprentice." 

He hasn't taken his eyes off her, "What powers do you have currently?" 

She shook her head, "I don't know. I haven't tried any. I'm scared."

Daud walked past her and out to the balcony. He leaned on the wall near the door. In the streetlight and moonlight illuminated outdoors, Daud looked way worse than she remembered him. The lines in his forehead deepened, the bags under his eyes grew larger, and the lines near the corner of his mouth more prominent. He had been through hell. 

She blurted her last thought out loud. He laughed bitterly, and walked forwards to the edge of the balcony where they once sat. He patted the spot next to him, inviting her to do the same. She took a coat, better prepared. 

"You're right." He paused, he fumbled for a cigarette, found one, but it fell down. In a swift motion he made a gesture with his left hand and she saw the world in black and white again. The cigarette froze in place. Daud plucked it from its place, and lighted it. Ava yelped and covered her mouth. Colours returned and Ava was so stunned she forgot to breathe. When she finally remember she inhaled deeply, catching most of Daud's smoke, and coughed. 

Daud looked at her as if she was crazy, "If you wanna smoke just tell me." He frowned, "You're right." He repeated, "I had been through hell. I was careless with my powers. Made all the wrong choices." 

Ava merely looked down at the streets, there were guards patrolling about, looking for the Masked Felon and Daud, no doubt. She started to speak, but the colours around them started to fade again, and she could feel a chill wind. It was the Outsider. 

"Ava. Daud." He paused dramatically, "I've gathered you here for something important." He slowly walked around with his arms behind his back. 

They both waited. Ava waited patiently, her eyes studied the Outsider's expression and body language. Daud seemed a little impatient, taking a seat on the balcony and lighting another cigarette. 

"Both of you are going home." He continued at last, "To Karnaca sweet Karnaca." 

"Now why would I do that?" He snarled. Ava couldn't help but to look back and forth between Daud and the Outsider, there seemed to be some animosity between them. Daud glanced angrily at the Outsider though tendrils of smoke, and even Ava felt the chill down her spine. "I had plans for Dabokva."

The Outsider tilted his head slowly, "I want you two to commit deicide."

Ava gasped, covering her mouth with both hands while Daud seemed to be choking on his cigarette. He spat the thing out, coughing harshly. They looked at each other in the midst of their confusion, then stared back at the Outsider. His smirk grew wider, then he disappeared.

Ava stared at Daud, his face was white with splotches of red, holding his throat. She slapped herself in the face, and Daud laughed condescendingly as he shook his head, "I hate that black-eyed bastard." He croaked.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading yall ahahah thankyou for bearing with my writing


End file.
